The Pursuit of Pleasure presents the figures of the rambler and the cyprian, the Eighteenth Century precursors to the Parisian flGneur and prostitute. The urban spaces traced by these figures were the clubs, sporting venues, operas, assembly rooms, streets and arcades of central London.Drawing on critical theory, geography and philosophy, The Pursuit of Pleasure extends and critiques the discipline of architectural history from a feminist perspective. The gendering of public space is considered to be a complex and shifting series of moves and looks between men and women, constructed and represented through spatial and social relations of consumption, display and exchange.Illustrated with contemporary prints and drawings, The Pursuit of Pleasure is an extraordinarily rich analysis of the gendered issues of public space at the birth of the modern metropolis.

Theodore Fenner’s Opera in London offers a vivid portrait of the operatic and cultural life of a London under the influence of Romanticism as perceived by the English press and the public who viewed the performances. In part 1, Fenner discusses the rise of the periodical press in early nineteenth-century London and the critics of these publications who reviewed opera performances, such as Leigh Hunt and William Hazlitt. Fenner lists in the appendixes for part 1 the leading periodicals—including the Althenaeum, Examiner, and Spectator,— the critics, and reviews by leading critics. Fenner, in part 2, examines the productions of Italian opera in London at the King’s Theatre, including the problems in theatre management and financing; the varied nature of the audience; the operas and performances— those that were popular and those that failed in the words of the critics and the responses of the audience; the singers; and themes and attitudes of the period as expressed by the critics. In part 3, Fenner explores the same topics for the English operas presented at Drury Lane, Covent Garden, and other playhouses. Parts 2 and 3 also contain extensive appendixes listing seasonal and annual performances and reviews, productions by composers and by librettists, comic and serious productions, operas by known playwrights, and minor singers. Forty-eight illustrations of singers, critics, performances, composers, and theatres add to the richness of this study.

Baroque composer George Frideric Handel easily ranks among the world's greatest composers. The first edition of this research guide on Handel appeared in 1988; since that time a great deal of scholarly work has been published on Handel and related areas, including the discovery of a hitherto unknown work. New general resources such as the New Grove Dictionary of Opera (1992), electronic resources such as the RISM libretto catalogue online, and the study of Handel's continuing popularity as evidenced by the new Handel House Museum in London and Handel practice around the world (e.g., Messiah and millennium celebrations in Tonga, singalong Messiahs etc.) are incorporated into this revised edition of the Handel guide.

First published in 1977, this book is a companion volume to Suffer and Be Still. It looks at the widening sphere of women’s activities in the Victorian age and testifies to the dual nature of the legal and social constraints of the period: on the one hand, the ideal of the perfect lady and the restrictive laws governing marriage and property posed limits to women’s independence; on the other hand, some Victorian women chose to live lives of great variety and complexity. By uncovering new data and reinterpreting old, the contributors in this volume debunk some of the myths surrounding the Victorian woman and alter stereotypes on which many of today’s social customs are based.

The Modern Castrato: Gaetano Guadagni and the Coming of a New Operatic Age chronicles the career of the most significant castrato of the second half of the eighteenth-century. Through a coincidence of time and place, Gaetano Guadagni was on the forefront of the heroic opera reform, and many forward-thinking composers of the age created roles for him. Author Patricia Howard reveals that Guadagni may have been the only singer of the time fully able to understand the demands and opportunities of this reform, as well to possess the intelligence and self-knowledge to realize that it suited his skills, limitations and temperament perfectly--making him the first castrato to embrace the concepts of modern singing. The first full-length biography of this outstanding singer, The Modern Castrato illuminates the everyday lives of eighteenth-century singers while spotlighting the historic high points of the century. Most famous for his creation of the role of Orpheus in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, his career ranged widely and brought him into contact with many progressives theorists and composers such as Traetta, Jommelli, and Bertoni. Howard's focus on the development of Guadagni's career pauses on essential, related topics along the way, such as the castrato in society, the eighteenth-century revolution in acting, and the remarkable evidence for Guadagni's marionette theater. Howard also assesses Guadagni's surviving compositions, which give new insight into the quality and character of his voice as well as his technical and expressive abilities. The Modern Castrato is an engaging narrative that will prove essential reading for opera lovers and scholars of eighteenth-century music.

"The fourth edition incorporates new scholarship that traces the most important developments in the evolution of musical drama. After surveying anticipations of the operatic form in the lyric theater of the Greeks, medieval dramatic music, and other forerunners, the book reveals the genre's beginnings in the seventeenth century and follows its progress to the present day."--Jacket.

Chronicles the colorful life and times of Lorenzo da Ponte, the librettist for Mozart's acclaimed operas, including Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro, a man who was a friend of Casanova, ex-priest, poet, notorious lover, founder of New York's first opera house, the first professor of Italian at Columbia University, and New York shop owner.